11.30.2003

Today I ran for my hubby. Tomorrow is his tube ride for the year. And we'll get good results. We're lucky because we'll actually get results. Tomorrow. Within an hour or so of the MRI. A lot of people aren't so lucky. They go for their checkups and have to wait for days for their neurologists to get back to them with results. And those results often come in the form of a phone call from the nurse. We'll get to meet with the doc himself. And since he's a professor at a University and loves to teach, any questions we have will be greeted with "I'm glad you asked." He'll sit back in his chair and answer to his heart's content. Did I say he loves to teach? Have I mentioned how Keith loves the University setting? I think we'll end up back at some little College some day with Keith in the roll of Professor if we can swing it. One dream. Anyway, we have an excellent team of physicians now handling Keith's case.

I ran for the final day with Anthony Hopkins. That is one wicked movie. And you thought he was a bad dude in Silence of the Lambs? There is some nasty stuff happening in Titus. N.A.S.T.Y. Shakespeare had some twisted ideas. Or the Romans had the twisted ideas I suppose and Shakespeare was just writing them? Whatever. It was violent and nasty.

Our friends P&C came to see us yesterday. We had lots of laughs, lots of food and enjoyed their baby Riley immensely. Hope to see them again soon, maybe even before Christmas. This year. One can hope.

I've done some chuckling of my own today. I had to convert my novel, completed at 3 am, to a text file so that I could upload it to be verified at the NaNoWriMo website as being large enough to qualify as a winner in the competition. Yep. I made it. My first attempt - beginners luck. I owe it all to my Grandma Lilah and her china teacup full of green tea that kept me awake long enough to finish it. Oh, I did a bit of sleep writing around midnight. Various new characters tried to creep in at that time... some old friends including one named Janet from my home town. She might find that pretty funny. I'll tell her about it some day maybe.

Anyway, while converting that novel, I found some real humor in all of the ridiculous twists the plot takes. I haven't read it all of the way through, you see. Don't know that I ever will either. Maybe some day when I need a good laugh. Could be fun. I flipped through it very quickly and added chapter headings this morning and saw characters that I had forgotten were in it. All in just a month of writing!

And I've only been running for two weeks. Imagine the twists and turns this adventure will take! So many more than the writing of a novel did... Hang in there with me cheerleaders and we'll have a whole new story to tell in the end.

The pledges keep rolling in. I'm certain to reach my hoped-for goal at this rate. Mr. Number-cruncher hasn't had time to plug in the numbers but once he's set in his new apartment I'll get him to do that and figure out where I'm sitting thus far if I hit that 500 mark... I'm aiming for the stars!!!

For my Keith...

Today's miles: 4.02
Total so far: 49.51 (argh! Had I known I was so close!)
Still to go for goal: 450.49

I'm not giving tomorrow's run to anyone because I'm not certain I'll get to the treadmill with all that is happening. If I get there it will be gravy. I might get on just for that last .49 miles when I get home! Happy Sunday evening all.

11.29.2003

Had this whole entry done once already but it was as dry as toast and I had to throw it away. I'm afraid that's just how it's going to be today, though... dry as toast. It's just one of those days. Where everything that rolls off your fingers is blah. And there's nothing you can do about it.

Glad deer hunting season is nearly over. The cannons were going off last night before I ran to town for the little parade we had to light up the town for Christmas. It seriously sounded like they were in our back yard. Close. They were on the corner of the lot line. I took the dog out to his dog run hoping he would start barking and piss off the hunters enough to make them leave, but he was just so afraid of them he ran in the garage and cowered by the back door until I let him back inside and I sat in his dog run whistling as loudly as I could instead, like I had a dog I was whistling for. It didn't help. They just sat down there shooting off their cannons. I finally yelled, "Sure feels great feeling like I'm living in a damn warzone!" But they couldn't hear me over the sound of their cannons. So I went back inside.

Well, I'd better go help Keli clean her rooms since she was so helpful to me last night. She got a wild hair and decided to clean the wood floors in various rooms. Really clean - not just dust. She did some other impressive stuff too. So I said I'd help her this morning. And things didn't get any less dry around here. Sorry about that. Hopefully I'll get a little damper tomorrow. May you all have a cheery day...

Here's the stats for Uncle K's run...

Today's miles: 3.12
Total so far: 45.49
Still to go for goal: 454.51

Tomorrow I'm running for my hubby Keith because of his tube ride on Monday. Give him an extra thought tomorrow or an extra prayer tomorrow night, please. This is his annual checkup to make sure his tumor site is behaving itself and that there isn't any sign of regrowth.

We are lucky enough to have a great team that we meet with who give us the results right away. Some people aren't so lucky and don't get their results for days after their MRI, so I'll already have the news by the time I come back later on Monday, but I'll also be helping him get moved in to his new week-day apartment that day. At any rate, by the time I post my Monday workout (if I can fit one in with all of that going on) I'll be able to let you know that we got the all clear. (power of positive thinking)

11.28.2003

I was going to just pretend yesterday didn't happen. Thought maybe since the cheerleaders were kind of non-existent for a couple days, nobody would notice if I skipped a day. And then Trudi happened. :) I'm not complaining. I love Trudi. I'm glad she posted on my post about the 26th wondering where my run for Thanksgiving was? She's keeping me honest.

So here's the thing. I slept in every day this week. Every blinking day! I couldn't drag my sorry butt out of bed! I've got a really cozy bed. It isn't comfortable. The mattress, which we spent a helluva lot of money on, SUCKS ROCKS. (don't ask me what that means, or where I picked up such a stupid phrase, but it does... the mattress sucks rocks). But climbing out from between those sheets and covers? Hard to do. And not even because Keith is home to snuggle with all week. Nope. He is up and out of bed by 6:30 because the dog doesn't let him sleep in. It's just me. In the big cozy bed. All alone. So comfortable. Well, by the time I did get up, there was food to be cooked to take with us to the folks' house and showers to be taken and there just wasn't time to run before going.

And by the time we got back, I could barely move for the food I'd eaten. But it was a good day. Much fun and laughter. So no. I didn't run. But I ran today!! (after sleeping in again...)

11.26.2003

Alrighty then. After getting dressed and heading downstairs and getting sidetracked by Keli who needed a ride to The Boy's house because she had a party to attend with him tonight, I finally got started around 5 on Barb's miles. I finished watching Untamed Heart and started on Titus, but only rolled through the intro and opening credits before I'd had it for the evening and decided I'd better get the oven heated and the pizza out of the fridge...

Tonight's dinner in order to hold back the mess and the cooking for tomorrow: Papa Murphy's Gourmet Vegetarian Pizza (hold the onions). Delish!

Received a couple more pledges in today's mail. It really makes going to the mailbox exciting! Had a letter in the box from a former co-worker, which was much fun - hello! I'll write you soon, thanks for the updated e-mail and the pledge! People are so generous and wonderful...

And another very surprising and overwhelming pledge arrived today as well... all I can say is wow and bless you and thank you.

My updated stats...

Today's miles: 3.11
Total so far: 38.85
Still needed to goal: 461.15

Tomorrow's run is dedicated to KathyK's mom, who battled breast cancer and is a 10-year survivor! KathyK, your family has been through the ringer with this stuff, eh darling? I'll have had your whole family after tomorrow! Do I need to start on your hubby's side after this? I haven't heard you mention his family battling the old Cancer beast, but I'm sure with as prevalent as the bugger is, it is highly possible. Thanks for your visit yesterday. Hugs to you and yours. I hope your dad continues to fight hard with his chemo.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in case I don't get out here tomorrow to post! We're heading to the folks' house for a family dinner... Enjoy the time with your loved ones... thanks to all of you for your support.

I can tell on this day before Thanksgiving that as the holidays approach, they are going to be some tough days for getting on that treadmill. I mean, here it is the day before Thanksgiving and it is 4 pm and I'm struggling to get on the monster.

Also, the holidays are going to mean that my cheerleaders are busy with their own lives and not hanging out on their computers just waiting for me to need their assistance... So here I go. Just letting you know that it's a tough day. But I'm going. Right now. And I sure am glad I've got Barb to run for. This one's for you, Barb... I'll be back.

11.25.2003

Spent quality family time last night with the Warrior (who cooked his fabulous cheese tortellini dinner) and Keli (who wanted to watch a movie, so I rewound Grosse Pointe Blank and we watched all of that together).

So today's movie on the run was Untamed Heart with Christian Slater (yes, another one) and Marisa Tomei. This is one Keli picked out as it has two of her favorite people (the aforementioned) in it also. So far, so good with that whole 80's romantic thing going for it. And another perk is that it is set in the Twin Cities area, looks to be right around the U of M campus, so that's fun.

I'm getting some e-mails and phone calls with questions regarding the fund-raising letter I sent, so I will try and clarify a couple of things here, too. I tried to make the letter crystal clear, but that's difficult sometimes - trying to make it short enough to get people to read it and yet clear enough to avoid questions.

You needn't send any money at this time (and I'd kind of prefer you didn't because of the delay before the relay, but I'll take it if you really prefer it that way).

If you are sending money now, you can send a check made out to the American Cancer Society. Do you mind if I hold that check until next spring when we start depositing for the relay?

All I am hoping for at this point, is the tear off of the letter returned pledging whatever (for example, a penny a mile would be a $5 total donation when/if I make the 500 mile goal... a nickle a mile would be a $25 donation on June 1 or when/if I make the 500 mile goal, etc.)

If you are reading this site and did not get a letter and would like to because this sounds like a great idea, please send me a comment to that effect and we'll e-mail each other and connect somehow. I love you!

Any other questions? I'd be happy to answer them for you. Let me know. I hate being confusing.

Here are the stats for Dawn's run...

Today's miles: 3.50
Total so far: 35.74
Still needed to goal: 464.26

Tomorrow's run is dedicated to my friend Barb. She battled the breast cancer bugger several years ago when I worked with her in downtown St. Paul. She beat the beast and took on a new lease on life asking herself what she was missing from life that she really wanted to have there. The answer was horses and she brought that old love and joy back into her life. We should all learn from her example. Hugs to you, Barb! I hope you are well. It has been too long, old friend. We must get together again - all four of us.

11.24.2003

Finally I can update! Blogger was down for a while this afternoon and I was going crazy because I hate when I want to get something done and can't. Can we say i m p a t i e n t? Um yeah. That's me. Just a little bit. Ask the Warrior. He says when you look in the dictionary for the definition of impatient you'll find a picture of me. He's probably right. I don't know. I haven't looked it up lately.

So today was the day Becky had to go into the hospital and have her tumour aspirated again (yes, I really did say again because the first time they didn't get any tumour cells... doesn't that suck?). She won't get the results until Friday, so send a little bit of lovin' and healthy vibes into the universe for the Beckster and for her mommy because they could use your good thoughts, okay?

And so today (this evening, in fact because I really had a rough time climbing on that treadmill today) I climbed on the treadmill (taking your submissions for names for the damn thing because I'm sick of calling it "the treadmill" - please send your ideas to my comment section... another shameless plea to see how many of you are reading, aren't I tricky?) in Becky's honor because she is a good daughter to my best writing buddy and traveling partner Marge, whom I lurrrrrv.(Hi Marge!)

Thanks to Billy's terrific movie idea, I stopped at Mr. Movies this afternoon while I was out running errands and picking my daughter up from school, and I picked up Grosse Pointe Blank (starring that handsome hunk, John Cusack - yum!). I began watching it on tonight's run. I've seen it before, of course, but I'd forgotten how much fun it was. I'm loving the 80's music and I really like Minnie Driver, so that's a plus, too. And Alan Arkin as the therapist is a hoot and I'd forgotten all about him. So I'm enjoying that thoroughly and it will make climbing on "the thing" tomorrow so much easier. I think that was part of the problem earlier today. I didn't have a great movie to pop in, you know?

But, I did it. Even after a really slow start to the day and not wanting to do it, I finally climbed aboard "It" and did it. I'm not patting myself on the back here. I'm just damn glad it's over to be honest. Because tomorrow I have to do it all over again. But at least I'll have John to look at! Thanks, Bill! That was a great idea.

And now Trudi has given me more great ideas. BJD, of course is in my stack of watchables and girl, she is committed to memory... Honey? You should see Keli do Bridget. You know the scene at the end where Mark reads the diary and goes storming out of her apartment and B hears the door close and comes out of her bedroom wondering what is going on in just her knickers and t-shirt? "Mark? Mark?" Peeking around corners and tip-toeing around... Keli knocks me over with her impression. I'm nearly wetting myself when she does it. Sounds like her, facial expressions, movements... only thing missing are the thighs and such. My dear daughter...

Loved Bend it Like Beckham. Going to own that one soon. Haven't seen Men With Brooms, so I'll definitely check that one out on the next rental run! Thanks for the suggestions! Keep 'em coming!!!

On with the stats...

Today's miles: 3.33
Total so far: 32.24
Still needed to goal: 467.76

I'm dedicating tomorrow's run to Dawn D. She is currently going through treatment for breast cancer here in my home town. She is the mom of one of my daughter's very dear friends and every one of Dawn's sisters have also gone through treatment for breast cancer; one of them has been through it twice!

Won't it be fantastic when they finally stamp out this nasty beast? Because they will you know. They will find a cure. I am positive of that fact.

11.23.2003

Well, aside from knowing that the battle against cancer is a beotch of a battle, I haven't had to fight it personally. Yes, I watched my husband fight it and in a way, had to fight part of it myself, but physically, I didn't go through it. I've never felt the effects of chemo or radiation, or had the surgeons knife remove any foreign tumour from me. Millions of others have.

I'm not sure how much of that battle Stacey has had to go through. I just know that my friend Trudi has asked me to dedicate a portion of my 500 miles to her dear friend Stacey, battling breast cancer, so today, I did just that.

I've never used the programs on my treadmill before. I've just hopped on and run the flat road and done a bit of time and miles as I've watched a movie. Today I thought I'd hit one of the programs while I finished watching Oceans Eleven (George Clooney, Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt... Oh MY!)... I'm not a fan of hills. I hate them. They make the lungs and the legs hurt, dammit.

But the way I looked at the pain today was, Stacey's been through a LOT more pain than what that little treadmill could dish out. So when the hill got steep? I kept going. For her sake. When my legs started to burn? I kept going. Because she does. Every day. So Stacey? This one was for you. Thanks for helping me get on that treadmill today and put in the miles.

Huge hugs to you in your battle. I wish you the very best. You've got a really great friend in the Trudles. I lurrrrrrrrvs her a lot. I hope someday to meet her in 3D so I can give her a really big hug, too.

Here's the stats for your run...

Today's miles: 4.05
Total so far: 28.91
Still needed to goal: 471.09

Tomorrow's run is dedicated to Becky. She has to go to the hospital and have her tumor aspirated (sp?) tomorrow so it can be tested for cancer. I don't know if this is the right way to put it or not, but that's the basics. A retest because the first one didn't work. Prayin' for you Beckster.

11.22.2003

This morning I ran with Danny Ocean and Rusty Ryan. I've really got to get some new movies in my collection. I mean, Ocean's Eleven is a great movie, and it will keep me running (especially after that gorgeous Andy Garcia... I loves me some Andy Garcia!) for a couple of days. But I could use some new flicks to keep me going and distracted.

Zen Master Warrior tells me to run unaccompanied and to just FEEL the perfection of the run. I love you honey, but I would fall flat on my butt after the first quarter mile if I just ran and had to actually pay attention to what the run felt like. Seriously. Zen Master Keri I'm not.

I think I'm going to ask for some Mr. Movies gift cards from my folks for Christmas and my birthday (hint hint mom!) so I have plenty of backup movies for this running thing.

Here's how I did on Ray's run...

Today's miles: 3.18 miles
Total so far: 24.86 miles
Still needed to goal: 475.14 miles

Thank you dedicated cheerleaders! You guys are the bestest! (((((hugging))))) (Hutch? Are you here?)

Tomorrow's run is dedicated to Trudi's friend, Stacey R. Keep on kicking that breast tumour, baby-cakes! You know you can!

11.21.2003

I put in four miles today. Finished watching The Two Towers. Alas. How many weeks do I have to wait for Return of the King to hit the theaters? This one was for KathyK and her papa. Hugs to you both. May he continue to do well with his current chemo treatment! And Kathy? Keep up the good work yourself, hunny-bunny! ESC!

Glad to hear the letters are hitting your boxes. Been getting some good responses from people... (500 miles? Are you NUTS?).

I may even have to post a photo of my sweaty and nasty self running some of those miles on the site someday. I actually got the idea from one of my neighbors. You know. To show me on that treadmill and oh how lucky it is that none of you have to actually witness the horror in person because by the time I've done 500 miles in my family room, it will need to be fumigated!

Okay, so here are the stats:

Today's miles: 4.02
Total so far: 21.68
Still needed to goal: 478.32

Tomorrow I'm running for family friend Ray, who just had bypass surgery! Notice, I'm not having any trouble finding people to dedicate my miles to so far, but if any one of my three readers has someone special in their life that they want me to run for, it really helps get my butt on the treadmill to have someone special that I'm doing it for, so drop me a comment please!

11.20.2003

The first official piece of paper came in the mail today promising donations for my run! (Yes mom and dad - you were first!) Things are really starting to roll now. I'll have to get the number-cruncher working on those spreadsheets this weekend so I can just plug numbers in as the pledges come in. It's so exciting! Thank you backers! This is in addition to word via e-mail and forum chats. What great friends and family!

Today's run was for Kat. It was lonely and small, but it was hard-fought. I had the didn't-get-my-own-Cities-Sampler blues.

Today's miles: 2
Total so far: 17.66
Still needed to goal: 482.34

Tomorrow I run for Kathy's dad. She is one of my Diva sistahs and her dad is battling inoperable lung cancer in both lungs. He has been taking experimental chemo, however, and they've just had word that the cancer is stable after 30 days on the treatment with no new activity. That's really great news!

I'm dedicating my miles tomorrow to him, and to KathyK because she's had a really rough year. Love ya sweetie!

11.19.2003

Today's run is dedicated to a stranger named Dave, who is celebrating being cancer free. I learned about him at d's place.

I'll be back to report the miles later.

I'm on my way, Aragorn!

Update:Today's miles: 3.09
Total miles so far: 15.66
Still needed to goal: 484.34

That was for you, Dave. And I'm still Snoopy dancing for you, too. Because I am truly excited that you are clean of cancer cells. What is better than that? Congratulations! Huge cyber hugs!

And tomorrow? Well, I've promised tomorrow's miles to Kat. They're all yours baby. I'm gonna do them when I come back from running all over tarnation looking for my Cities Sampler. Because I was unsuccessful in my attempts to win one on the radio. And I have my priorities. Music first. Then running.

And for those of you waiting to hear about the Beckster's biopsy results? You're going to have to hang in there like the rest of us and wait a little longer because things were effed up at the lab and the poor dear has to go back in next week and have things re-done. Now tell me things aren't a little screwed up in the medical world. She's been waiting a week for those results and now she has to wait again. Love you guys. Hugs. Hope you get better and faster treatment this time around.

11.18.2003

Today I ran with Shadowfax... We ran side by side our long legs quivering with speed and endurance as we raced up hills and over the mountains and through the forests on our way to Rohan.

(all right all of you who know me, stop laughing at that long legs thing...)

True, I felt more like Tree Beard and his creaky movements as he carried Merry and Pippin through Fangorn Forest, especially during the first mile, but I kept on and eventually I felt like I was running with Shadowfax, really I did!

Today's miles: 3.25
Total so far: 12.57
Still needed to goal: 487.43

The letters should be trickling out to people finally. I'm loving my cheering squad! Thanks gang!

11.17.2003

I got home from helping the Warrior husband move to his new weekly lodgings around 10 pm and I was bushed. Okay, so yesterday I took a day of rest. My second day on the 500 run to nowhere and I rested. I needed it to prepare for all those days ahead!

Today, I got up at 6 to get my daughter off to school, prepared to stay up for the day so I could get some miles racked and determined to set the pace. This is November of NaNoWriMo and the start of the 500-Miles! There is much to accomplish!

Today's miles: 6.16
Total miles run so far: 9.32
Still needed to goal: 490.68

Now I'm going to go hobble off to my laptop and try to get some mega-words typed in on that story I'm working on. And then perhaps I'll be able to stand up long enough for a good hot shower. I sure hope we get some sunshine today. I know a few of my friends out there love these gray and rainy days that we've been getting but I seriously could NOT wake up yesterday. These Pacific Northwest kind of days just drag me into the doldrums (no offense).

11.15.2003

Well, I guess in the beginning, one should really do a bit of an introduction. I'm not going to go on and on with a large, long-winded thing. I'm just going to state my intent.

Next June 18-19 is my old hometown Relay for Life. For the second year, I am the Co-Captain of a family team (and a few very important friends) which goes by the name Keith's Brain Trust. Our Honorary Captain is my husband Keith. We formed the team in his honor after his battle with a brain tumor, which took place in 2001. A few of us participated in the 2002 Relay as members of one of the already formed teams just to see what it was like. We really had fun and decided that we could do this on our own with our own team, and would have a heck of a lot of fun doing it, so we gave it a shot in 2003.

Since we did have a great time, we are going for it again in 2004. We exhausted our garage sale resources during the 2003 contribution-seeking period. As a result of that, I decided I'd better come up with some other idea for seeking funds this year and THIS IS IT!

Welcome to my 500-Mile Run to No Where! I may not be going anywhere, but I'm working on seeking a cure for Cancer in my travels, and I'm using my feet and hopefully your donations to get me there.

This is the site that I told you about in the donation-seeking letter. This is where I told you that I would keep you updated on how I was doing on my goal. I hope that along the way, you will leave me some words of wisdom, maybe just a hello or a "keep on going!" (by clicking on the word comment at the end of the things I write and filling in the blanks). I'll be thrilled to see that you've been here for a visit and to check up on me.

Anything to keep me moving!

I'm also in hot pursuit of a corporate sponsor that would be interested in doing some sort of matching funding or giving a cool discount to people who sponsor me on my Run to Nowhere. If you know of anyone that might be interested, send them my way! Let them know about me.

If you haven't sent me back the donation letter, don't delay. Every letter that comes back to me, helps get me back on that treadmill every morning (or pounding the pavement on a good day).

I already had my first person jump on the donations bandwagon - one of my Diva buddies said she would sponsor me the very first day I mentioned it! Thanks, Kath!

Today was the starting day of statistics...
So here are today's stats on the road to Nowhere...